Monthly Archives: August 2014

This is the simplest way to guarantee success with any Content you do: Prep the ending first.

Here’s why:
Suppose you have several errands to run. You need to drop some clothes off at the dry cleaners, you’ve got to mail something, and you need to go to the grocery store. So to save gas and go in more of a straight line, you plan everything so you go to the grocery store last. If you don’t, you’re going to end up with a lot of refrigerated items melting in the back seat while you’re doing the other errands.

It’s the same way with everything on the air—know where you’re GOING. Where the “destination” is. THEN, plan the beginning—how you’ll get into whatever the subject is. You’ll find that the middle pretty much takes care of itself.

Saturday Night Live is a good example. Through the years, they’ve always had talented people in the cast, but when the show was strongest, every ‘bit’ had a sense of purpose—an ending or conclusion that was solid and provided some sort of resolution at the end. When the show was at its weakest, there were still some good ideas, but they just kind of fizzled out at the end.

As you’ve heard or seen me state before, Momentum and Pace are different things. Pace is how fast you go, but Momentum is how straight a line there is between Point A and Point B. You don’t necessarily gain Momentum just by going faster. It takes being concise, and good construction, like a great writer’s book that you can’t put down.

Recently, this came up in a dramatic way as a Talk show I work with really got it, and moved effortlessly forward by keeping a close eye on the lengths of calls. I told the host to think of each call as a scene in a movie, and that while not all movies are great, we only resent the ones that bog down and waste our time. By itself, Momentum turns a “C-plus” show into a “B-plus”. Content will vary from week to week, but good editing and constant forward movement are like the tide coming in. Unstoppable.

It’s the same in every format. Given two equal stations, the one with better Momentum will always win. And it’s not just about what happens when the mic opens. It applies to your Imaging, your commercial Production, your jingles (if you use them)—everything. Example: Don’t just sit there, not even realizing that every time your Imaging ends “dry voice”, then the next song starts, you just LOST momentum. Do something about it. (Call me and we’ll build it into everything you do.)

The great movie Director Alfred Hitchcock was once asked by a reporter, “Is it true that you said all actors are cattle?”
Hitchcock replied, “No, I did not say that all actors are cattle. I said that all actors should be treated as cattle.”

Whenever you have a guest—or a guest host—keep that in mind.
If the guest or guest host is from TV, chances are that they know NOTHING about radio. They know about hair product and how to read a teleprompter, but if they knew anything about keeping a viewer around, they wouldn’t keep saying things like “after this break” or “when we return.” (I’ll dive further into this in a future tip.) A guest, like someone who’s on “The Biggest Loser” or whatever, knows even less. They’re pretty much like ducklings, just trying to smile and not sound like amateurs.

YOU have to organize things for them.
First rule: Don’t tell the other person something he already knows about himself. That leaves him nothing to say. (“So, you’re on The Biggest Loser tonight…” only leaves him “Yes…” or “That’s right” to say—both boring “null” responses that don’t move the conversation forward.) To use Hitchcock’s example, if you say what THEY should say, they might as well just answer with “Mooooooo.”
Second rule: ONE thought per break, not three “related” thoughts that should be spread out over three separate breaks.
Third rule: Let them know exactly what you’re going to do each break, so their role is clear.

If you need help with this, call me. A couple of coaching sessions, and you’ll be setting people up to sound good instead of giving the listener a really good reason to go somewhere else.

The National Football League is a “copycat” league. If a team succeeds by throwing 50 passes a game, the next year, every team looks for its Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. If a mobile quarterback wins a bunch of games, everyone starts drafting a quarterback who can run in addition to pass. (I’m not talking about Tim Tebow. Note the “and PASS” part. The only target Tebow can hit consistently is the ground.)

Radio’s like that, too. For a while, it seemed like every break ended with the jock giving their website address—often with no real purpose. “I’ve just told you everything about this that’s interesting, but if you’d like to read what I just said, go to the morning show page at 94.7thefart.com.”

The one getting copied the most now is the podcast. “Hear the full interview on our podcast” has become the mobile quarterback of the radio world—but that term is outdated.
In the real world, “On Demand” is the term that works, and here’s why: “On Demand” isn’t about the radio station; it’s about me—the listener—and how I use it. “Podcast” and “webcast” are left-brain analytical words that don’t have anything to do with me.

We’ve got to make things more about the listener than about the radio station. Go there, and stay there. That’s why social media is so hot right now—it’s about the USER.